The lights flickered.
The whole room alternated between light and dark.
Ning Jiaojiao had never lit a lamp at night in the past hundred years. This habit started after Ning Zheng arrived.
"Did the Sword Casting Manor recruit good people today?"
Ning Jiaojiao ate like a cute hamster, revealing a row of sharp shark teeth, "How many people?"
"Hmm, there were a hundred people,"
Ning Zheng casually mentioned his observations of the day and sighed, "Each of them is quite diligent, though they have some minor flaws, but nothing serious."
He only reported the good news, not the bad.
"Can I find some time to go up the mountain to play?" Ning Jiaojiao was very bored, only able to play in the yard every day, "I can help them build houses, I can also farm and transplant rice seedlings."
"I'll take you to have a look if there's time," Ning Zheng said with a smile.
How could he possibly take her there?
Taking her there would only make him more worried.
Besides, it wasn't that he didn't want to take her out.
But here in the Spirit Manor, all living beings were Earth-bound Spirits who couldn't leave, thinking they were still alive, maintaining their habits from when they were alive.
Ning Jiaojiao had a higher degree of self-awareness.
But she still couldn't venture far from the Spirit Manor area.
"By the way, could you catch someone from the manor to help me fish the River Demon?" Ning Jiaojiao's little face was filled with joy, as if she had thought of something happy.
She was obsessed with this, believing in getting her revenge for being drenched herself, a contrast to Ning Zheng's character.
"We'll talk about this later," Ning Zheng took a bite of fish.
To be honest, he didn't want to take them down the mountain either.
Home is home, work is work.
Work should not invade life, the two areas should be clearly defined, and here was his core living area.
The situation at the manor didn't really matter.
As long as there was income, providing resources for him to hide and cultivate here was sufficient.
As the owner, he could just ignore the manor altogether.
Ning Zheng thought that once they operated on track, visiting once a month was enough, no need to pay too much attention.
This was also how most cultivators behaved.
Their own businesses and mines, who would supervise them daily?
All were entrusted to others to manage while they retreated into a cave mansion for cultivation.
After all, personal combat power was everything; as long as it was strong enough, resources would come easily.
Indeed, he could take time to go outside, perhaps exploring the outside world.
Of course, not like Jiucai Rong suggested, to expand and grow the manor, or open a weapon store branch outside.
After today's encounters, he was even more certain this group of blacksmiths were the worst class he'd ever seen.
Delicate young masters who had never touched spring water, barely passing in terms of diligence and enthusiasm.
Truly lacking in merits.
Who cared about their undying attribute?
As for other abilities?
Their work efficiency was even less than the honest villagers!
Naturally, the outing was not due to them, but because in Ning Zheng's eyes, not going out and understanding the world, remaining an ostrich wouldn't work.
As for the extreme dangers outside?
With a backup granary, money brings no worries.
Here is where the blacksmiths came into play—saving up enough Qi Fortune Value before going out meant he would be "lucky" enough not to encounter danger.
Following that.
Ning Zheng recounted the day's work experiences, his thoughts on the blacksmiths, and the future prospects of the work, which Ning Jiaojiao barely understood, but she found it fascinating.
To Ning Jiaojiao, this was home.
In her distant memory, she vaguely remembered that each night during meals, her parents would share their work experiences with her and her brother.
After finishing his meal, he played a game of house with Ning Jiaojiao for a while.
Suddenly, Ning Jiaojiao said, "The annual New Year Market, can we go this year?"
The New Year Market was an event during the Lunar New Year for several nearby villages to gather and celebrate.
Lion dances, mountain songs, and even martial arts challenges seeking marriage were held.
But nowadays, the surrounding manors had long since turned into Spirit Manors, unbeknownst to them they'd been dead for over a hundred years, still maintaining their lifetime routines.
They continued to go to the market as usual.
Night Parade of Hundred Demons, passing Yin Soldiers—the spectacular scenes of that time.
They were also celebrating the New Year!
Yet Ning Zheng felt neither discrimination nor reverence towards this.
If anyone were to blame, it would be those demon men who brought about the demise of these farmsteads, what fault did these law-abiding folks have?
They didn't actively harm anyone, just lived a normal lifestyle, day after day, year after year, like Earth-bound Spirits repeating the years.
It was bustling and intimate back then, even if people were dead, the local customs hadn't changed much, Ning Zheng thought:
"Sure, let's go have a look and join the fun. Besides, I'd like to buy something this time."
People maintained their lifetime routines, tilling the fields, farming, and of course, producing goods for trade.
Farm tools, metalwares, books, furniture, all were for sale—a treasure trove bustling with activity.
Ning Zheng's Cultivation Introduction Manual was bought during one such market visit.
This world was at a Sheng Shi peak, with the present Saint subjugating all the sects, sweeping away the Spiritual Root bloodline theories.
With the concept of universal education being promoted time and again, major sects and holy lands actively taught mortals various introductory cultivation techniques and Dharma methods passed into human society.
Most families wished to raise children destined for greatness, exhausting family wealth over years, arduously nurturing children in studies, attempting to change fate.
But in the end, countless families collapsed after the children achieved Three Flowers on the Top and died a Tao fruit death.
Even though scholarship was widespread, how many student scholars could truly understand themselves, how many academic overachievers could learn a path?
Half-hearted learning, an extremely high death rate.
Ning Zheng and Ning Jiaojiao chatted for quite a while about how to enjoy last year's market and what to buy, and then checked the time—it was already seven o'clock, so he kicked everyone offline.
[Today's transactions fully completed, Qi Fortune Value +2000]
He showed a slight expression of joy.
One person +2, combined with those 900 visitors, a total of a thousand people, he gained a full two thousand Qi Fortune Value!
Ning Jiaojiao only provides 100 a day, plus even less from the townsfolk.
Now, it's truly a wave of sudden wealth.
In the future, it will be like making money daily!
Ning Zheng instantly tasted the sweetness of success.
He immediately wanted to expand the numbers, thinking about a thousand people, what about the supply from ten thousand people daily?
Unfortunately, the server can currently only accommodate up to 1000 people.
To upgrade, it would probably require a massive amount of Qi Fortune to be poured in to "luckily" find some way to upgrade the server.
Ning Zheng took a deep breath, and his gaze fell upon two sets of data.
[Name: Jiucai Rong]
[Race: Money Child]
[Status: Living Being]
[Qi Fortune: 55/57]
...
[Name: Su Yuniang]
[Race: Money Child]
[Status: Living Being]
[Qi Fortune: 120/122]
A normal person has about 10, with a daily deduction of 2 points.
But these are two who exceed that, and deducting 2 points is insignificant.
Jiucai Rong was originally an ordinary person who turned his fortunes around after being chosen, so his abundant Qi Fortune is understandable, but Su Yuniang is clearly different from ordinary people.
She is someone with profound blessings.
Such people often come from extraordinary families and possess various abilities, and Su Yuniang is probably doing well in reality.
Looking at these two people, Ning Zheng thought:
Should I deduct them down to only 8, turning them into ordinary blacksmiths?
After all, elsewhere, people are born into different statuses and ranks....
While Ning Zheng here, what he's talking about is fairness, fairness, and fairness again.
Deducting them would net an additional 175 Qi Fortune value daily.
But for now, this enormous daily 2000 Qi Fortune is just a trivial amount.
At least for Jiucai Rong, Ning Zheng didn't want to deduct him.
His Qi Fortune value isn't much; as a management staff, a higher Qi Fortune value can keep things steady and prevent accidents.
After pondering for a while, he decided not to deduct Su Yuniang either.
8 Qi Fortune value unluckily small blacksmiths are everywhere.
But blacksmiths with over 100 Qi Fortune value appear purely by chance. Deducting them to gain a little Qi Fortune and turning them into ordinary people is a huge loss.
With good luck, there's potential!
It's worth investing in them; no need to drain them dry.
It's from ordinary people that squeezing out Qi Fortune brings the highest benefit.
Both of them can be turned into unique talents.
Moreover, if it can attract more people with profound blessings and unique talents to visit his "inn," that would be great.
Meanwhile, with a large fortune in hand, Ning Zheng faced another problem.
With his newfound wealth, is a daily expenditure of 15 Qi Fortune a bit too little?
This frugality is not fitting of his Manor Master aura.
This daily Qi Fortune, which is 5 points higher than the average person, can really hold up as a manor master and maintain such a vast territory?
Bear in mind that the demon men that used to be in the manor had over 200 points of daily Qi Fortune on average!
Ning Zheng rubbed his chin, pondering:
"Previously, I could sustain with 15 points because nothing unfortunate happened. Mainly because I was just an ordinary person hiding in the shadows, but now with my current status... I'm afraid I can't hold it."
He thought for a moment and decided to increase it directly.
[-500 Qi Fortune Value]
From now on, a daily 500 Qi Fortune value!
Wealthy and ostentatious!
This amount should be enough to hold things together for now.
He's not the kind to penny-pinch, wanting to save every bit of Qi Fortune. Saving where necessary, spending where needed.
In case something happens, conserving too much and losing his life would be a joke, he'd rather spend a bit more for peace of mind when sleeping.
After all, in this business, the daily cost is 500, with a pure profit of 1500, which is 75% profit daily!
Being too stingy and constantly cutting costs can incur too much risk.
Besides.
Is this daily 500 Qi Fortune value just thrown away?
The daily luck it brings is equivalent to one-tenth of a mortal's Tao Fruit of Longevity!
Going out every day finding money, casually fishing to catch a Great River Demon, encountering small opportunities, practicing smoothly without going Fire and Demonic — these are normal daily benefits.
Of course, there's no absolute security either.
Ning Zheng still doesn't quite understand his own abilities.
But he has vaguely noticed that fate collides with fate, constantly changing, and if he encounters an existence with a Qi Fortune of over 1000, he fears he would be in danger.
...
...
The time flow in both worlds is normal.
Ning Zheng returns home for dinner, and at around seven o'clock, remotely logs them off, begins to calculate the earnings, and calmly practices. At seven in the evening here, being kicked offline marks the start of an exciting nightlife.
Su Yuniang, after a hot bath, sits in front of the computer, adding the private chat account of "Jiucai Rong" exchanged in the game:
"I'm going to start streaming, do you want to visit my livestream and comment on this game?"
Jiucai Rong: "Sure, boss, really looking forward to it."
"This is a mutually beneficial relationship, outside I lead you, and inside you take me to play the game." Su Yuniang nods, then opens the livestream.
On the title of the livestream, it reads:
[This Game is Too Incredible! Livestream of Writing First Test Strategy and Personal Feelings]